Meet Chef Angela Huang

Cooking to me is both art therapy and nutrition in action. Playtime in the kitchen is a form of yoga for me and I personally can’t think about what and how to cook without thinking about nutritional value. I believe that our relationship to how we eat is just as important as what we eat. I'm fascinated by the psychology of eating, psychoneuroimmunology-the study of the effect of the mind on health and resistance to disease, and the all the new research on our microbiota (like how our gut bacteria has been shown to affect human emotions!)

Teaching others what I've learned about my passions allows me to share myself with others in an intimate way.

I’ve held various roles in the culinary industry since I was a teenager. From my first job at Carl's Jr, to head chef at a hippie Macrobiotic restaurant in my early twenties, to a pastry chef, to a nutritional consultant and chef instructor, I’ve always been obsessed with food. While I understood the benefits of a nourishing diet and was diagnosed with gluten and dairy intolerance, I still worked with sugar, wheat, and other unhealthy ingredients. And when I was teaching at the culinary school, I was given a syllabus to follow that wasn’t always aligned with my personal values. I enjoyed my work, but knew there was something missing.The stress and unhappiness I was feeling ultimately culminated in a trip to the emergency room. My body was covered with hives and open-wound rashes. I was teaching food safety the next day and realized the irony: I was a walking food hazard! At the hospital, I was finally able to laugh at myself. Over the next few weeks I had a spiritual awakening—I read, I prayed, and I learned how to feed my body in a whole new way. During this time, I successfully healed months’ worth of severe eczema, oozing rashes, and horrible itchy hives. It’s a period I refer to as my “Healing Honeymoon.”

FOOD AND AUTOIMMUNITY

This experience opened my eyes to the work of pioneers in ancestral health and functional medicine, such as Chris Kresser ( The Paleo Cure), Rob Wolf ( Wired to Eat), Sarah Ballantyne (The Paleo Approach), Terry Wahls (Wahls Paleo and Wahls Paleo Plus), and Paul Jaminet (Perfect Health Diet). For two years, I was strictly committed to the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), and have slowly moved into reintroduction phases that more closely resemble the Paleo diet. I now work with and support individuals at varying stages of healing to help them repair their gut, detoxify their body, reduce inflammation, strengthen their immune system, and find peace on their plates. I also help people expand their diets when they’re ready to reintroduce more healthy, whole foods.

Let me Support you and your commitment to health

My desire is to use my life experiences and skills to improve the lives of others who choose to embark on healing diets and feel overwhelmed with how to cook and eat differently than those around them. Through coaching, private cooking lessons, special classes and events, I educate and celebrate those wanting to uplevel their quality of life in this way.

I am committed to understanding the dietary needs and restrictions of my clients, without sacrificing creativity or satisfaction that you deserve from food. My clients are conscious people who are wanting to experience a new relationship with food that's less stressful and more enjoyable..

Pastry Chef and Line Cook, making baked goods, specialty items, and additional desserts

Suitcase Clinic, Sept 2009 - Sept 2010

Cooking Farm-to-Table weekly dinners for Berkeley’s homeless and low-income population under 25.

Ecology Center, Berkeley Farmer's Market, May 2008 – March 2010

Market Demo Chef and Nutrition Educator. Creating recipes, nutritional handouts, and performing chef demonstrations for the Berkeley public using all local and seasonally grown ingredients. Assisting in sales and operations of the Ecology Center Store and the Berkeley Farmer's Market.